Congress Seeks to Stop Iran From Funding Islamic Terrorism

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel speculated Thursday on whether more terrorist attacks like the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel are coming soon now that Iran’s financial resources to fund them are growing.

With the easing of international sanctions against Iran since 2021, its oil revenue has increased to about $150 million a day.

Some of that money is directed toward the Islamic extremist group Hamas, which staged the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,300 people. Thirty-three of them were Americans.

Iran gives Hamas 93% of its annual funding, or about $350 million a year, according to international finance experts who testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

The lawmakers are trying to figure out whether U.S. policies contributed to the rising menace from extremists funded by Iran.

“Since 2021, the Iranian regime has profited nearly $80 billion from oil sales around the world, which is due in part to relaxed sanctions,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.

Like other subcommittee members, he argued for the renewal of a get-tough policy toward Iran.

“Make no mistake, Hamas is no friend to the Palestinian people and the Iranian regime is no friend of ours,” Huizenga said. “We must not waver in our support for our ally, Israel.”

Republicans blamed the Biden administration for aiding the Iranians through a policy they described as appeasement.

The United States has imposed restrictions on activities with Iran under various legal authorities since 1979, following the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 2019, former President Donald Trump imposed a broad array of sanctions on Iran. They restricted business for its financial institutions, energy companies and foreign trading partners.

It was a response to Iran’s nuclear development program, funding of Islamic extremists and suspected efforts to interfere in U.S. elections.

In June 2021, the Biden administration lifted sanctions on several Iranian energy companies as a concession during stalled nuclear control negotiations. It was intended as a signal to the Iranians that more concessions might be coming if they cooperated in international peace agreements.

During the hearing Thursday, Huizenga said, “Naively believing that diplomatic agreements will deter the Iranian regime will be done at our own peril. We must cripple their economy and return to the previous administration’s maximum pressure campaign.”

Democrats cautioned against turning terrorism into an issue of partisan politics.

“We cannot allow the blame game with political fallacies to masquerade as proven facts,” said Rep. Alexander Green, D-Texas.

He was joined in calling for a unified U.S. government effort by Gabriel Noronha, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

“They would not distinguish between Republicans and Democrats when they target us,” he said.

Some of the discussion focused on whether the U.S. government should give Iran $6 billion in frozen assets that it agreed to return in exchange for release of American political prisoners. Several lawmakers said they were concerned the Iranians would use the money to fund terrorism.

The money is being held in Qatar but was held up with agreement from the United States after the Oct. 7 attack.

“We should not view that deal as having any legitimacy anymore,” Noronha said.

Clayton Thomas, a Middle East affairs specialist for the Congressional Research Service, said Iran places a higher priority on funding terrorism than caring for the humanitarian needs of its own people.

Some of the money is laundered through China and expatriates in South America, making it difficult for the U.S. government to halt a transfer back to Iran, he said.

“Clearly the nature of these illicit funds makes tracking them difficult,” Thomas said.

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